A new pineapple (Ananas comosus) variety of the Bromeliaceae family was developed from a cross between the parental lines ‘Dry Sweet’ and ‘Hilo White’ pineapple plant varieties and has been designated ‘Franklynn’.
‘Franklynn’ is a selection from the F1 (first generation) hybrid of ‘Dry Sweet’ (seed parent, unpatented) and ‘Hilo White’ (pollen parent, unpatented).
‘Hilo White’ is a variety of unknown parentage cultivated in Hilo, Hi. having a white, sweet flesh. It is similar in appearance to ‘Smooth Cayenne’ but is readily distinguished from ‘Smooth Cayenne’ by a complete absence of spines on the leaves and a white flesh color.
‘Dry Sweet’ is a mutation of ‘Smooth Cayenne’ having dry, sweet fruits and a Brix value of 17-19%. The cultural characteristics of ‘Dry Sweet’ have not been evaluated but they are assumed to be similar to those of ‘Smooth Cayenne’.
No record was found that either parent has been used in the production of a hybrid pineapple.
Seeds of the F1 hybrid of ‘Dry Sweet’×‘Hilo White’ were first planted in Waimanalo, Hi. in the 1997. Between the years 2000 and 2002, one plant was selected as being superior on the basis of vigor, fruit size, flavor, sweetness, and flesh texture. This plant was propagated asexually from slips, shoots, or crowns of mature fruits. The new cultivar ‘Franklynn’ has been asexually propagated from slips, shoots or crowns of mature fruits in Waimanalo, Hi. for multiple generations from 2000 to 2010 and this propagation has demonstrated that the characteristics of the new cultivar are firmly fixed and stably reproduced true-to-type through successive generations.
‘Franklynn’ is most similar to the commercial variety ‘Hilo White’ in taste and appearance. However, ‘Franklynn’ differs from ‘Hilo White’ in the following manners:                1. ‘Franklynn’ has dark orange skin on the mature fruit whereas ‘Hilo White’ has a yellow skin.        2. ‘Franklynn’ has a shorter peduncle and many more green, leafy bracts on the peduncle than does ‘Hilo White’.        3. ‘Franklynn’ fruit has yellow-white (cream) colored flesh while ‘Hilo White’ fruit has white flesh.        4. The ‘Franklynn’ fruit is sweeter than the ‘Hilo White’ fruit.        
‘Franklynn’ is similar to the variety ‘Dry Sweet’ in having a similar growth and sweetness. However, ‘Franklynn’ differs from ‘Dry Sweet’ in the following manners:                1. The mature fruit of ‘Franklynn’ has dark orange shell rather than the yellow shell of the fruit of ‘Dry Sweet’.        2. The fruit of ‘Franklynn’ is sweeter than that of ‘Dry Sweet’, having a Brix value ranging from 21% to 26% while the Brix value of ‘Dry Sweet’ ranges from 17% to 19%.        3. The fruit of ‘Dry Sweet’ is more acidic than that of ‘Franklynn’.        4. ‘Franklynn’ has leaf margins that are completely smooth and free of spines while ‘Dry Sweet’ has spines at the leaf tip margins and occasionally at the leaf base.        